For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard will be counting down our editorial staff picks for the 10 Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 all the next two weeks. Last week, we revealed our Honorable Mentions artists for 2025 as well as our Rookie of the Year and Comeback of the Year artists. Now, we reach No. 3 on our list with an artist who is no stranger to the top of these rankings, but who got back closer to the top this year than she had in a little while now: Lady Gaga.

Listen to our Greatest Pop Stars podcast discussion about Lady Gaga’s year of giving fans everything they could possibly want here, and find the rest of our updating top 10 list with all our corresponding essays and pods here.

If you needed a sign that 2025 was destined to be a big one for Lady Gaga, look no further than when she started the year by immediately scoring her sixth Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit.

Once the tinsel settled on Mariah’s annual eggnog-fueled reign atop the chart, the first non-Christmas No. 1 of 2025 was Bruno Mars and Gaga’s “Die With a Smile,” the August 2024-released duet that willed its way to the top nearly half a year later. “I’m sending love, peace and absolutely as much joy as possible for 2025,” Gaga told fans in a Jan. 7 TikTok video after the No. 1 news. “Thank you for making the beginning of mine so special.” (She also marked the achievement by noting just how long she’s been riding at the top of this pop game: “I can’t believe I’ve had two No. 1s in three different decades that I’ve been releasing my music.”)

And she was just getting started: As she revealed in a late 2024 interview, “Die With a Smile” was the “missing piece” on the track list for her yet-untitled LG7 project, and as the hit duet dominated the top of the Hot 100 for five nonconsecutive weeks to start the year (not to mention a total 18 weeks atop the Billboard Global 200), Gaga ramped up anticipation for her seventh album with a mysterious countdown clock to Jan. 27. It all led to billboards around New York City followed by the official announcement on Instagram: “MAYHEM coming March 7.”

Over the next month, Gaga was omnipresent at major events – but while she had a new project to promote, she seemed much more focused on a series of natural disasters and urgent social issues than her album cycle. At Jan. 30’s FireAid, she was the final artist to hit the stage at the benefit concert, performing the one-off song “All I Need Is Time” that she and fiancé Michael Polansky wrote for victims of the January wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles County (“It’s just for tonight. It’s just for you”).

At the 2025 Grammys the following weekend (Feb. 2), she hit the stage with Mars, but instead of “Die With a Smile,” they once again honored wildfire victims with The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” — and when the duo took home the best pop duo/group performance Grammy for their Hot 100-topping duet later that night, Gaga shifted the spotlight to the trans community, imploring in her speech, “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love.” Finally, at the 2025 Super Bowl on Feb. 9, Gaga was there again, this time performing her Oscar-nominated Top Gun: Maverick song “Hold My Hand” ahead of the game on Bourbon Street in honor of victims of the New Orleans terror attack, Hurricane Helene, and the L.A. wildfires. (The reverent tribute would even go on to win a Sports Emmy in May, for outstanding music direction.)

That’s not to say Gaga didn’t find time to squeeze in some Mayhem promo along the way, including the bombastic song and music video premiere during a Grammys commercial break of the track that would come to define the LG7 era: “Abracadabra.” The choreography-heavy visual marked a return to dance-pop form for Gaga and launched countless TikTok videos from legions of Little Monsters, including support from famous fans like ROSÉ (“QUEEN”) and Halsey (“New reason to live just dropped”) and a No. 1 debut on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart. Other pre-Mayhem promo included a spicy sit-down with Hot Ones, confirming “Telephone” part 2 with Beyoncé via Vanity Fair’s lie detector test, and subbing for Justin Timberlake on “D–k in a Box” at the Feb. 15 SNL50 concert.

On March 7, the Mayhem moment finally arrived, and as “Abracadabra” signaled, there were a lot of classic Gaga elements at play, including dark pop, examinations into fame and self, and even Zombieboys. That wasn’t an accident: “I really wanted to allow myself to just follow the music,” Gaga told Billboard’s Stephen Daw of letting the music take the lead. “By doing that, it started to slowly remind me of my earlier work.” Gaga’s release-week victory lap included pulling double-duty as host and musical guest of Saturday Night Live, which marked the live debuts of both “Abracadabra” and “Killah” from the new album. It all led to a resounding No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, with the biggest streaming week of Gaga’s career, and 10 of its tracks landing on the Hot 100. Mayhem also debuted at No. 1 on Top Dance Albums, becoming Gaga’s record-breaking eighth leader (surpassing Louie DeVito for the most in the chart’s 24-year history).

Next, it was time to bring the Mayhem to a stage near you: On March 26, Gaga announced The Mayhem Ball tour as her first arena trek since 2018, after conquering stadiums on The Chromatica Ball. (She announced an initial 32 dates kicking off in July, but the total has now blossomed to 87 shows across the globe.) Before the Ball, the first major live performance following the album’s release was Gaga headlining two Coachella weekends in April, “a genius commentary on fame.” “Tonight, she delivered a poignant and entertaining take on what it means to be a superstar — and did so while further solidifying her own role as one of the biggest,” Havens wrote, noting that the two-hour, four-act performance leaned heavily on the just-released Mayhem. 

Gaga also made her triumphant return to Mexico later that month for the first time in 13 years, playing for 61,000 fans at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City. But why not play for 40 times more fans the next week? On May 4, Gaga reportedly drew 2.5 million fans to a free concert at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, marking her first concert in Brazil in a decade and becoming the highest-attended concert by a female artist in history.

The Mayhem Ball launched in July, kicking off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with what Billboard’s Joe Lynch called “a theatrical, electric and delicious live affair.” By September, the tour had already surpassed $100 million in ticket sales for just its first North American leg, according to Billboard Boxscore, making it the highest-grossing leg of any Gaga tour yet. She didn’t let the tour slow down other appearances either: On Sept. 7, the pop superstar popped over to Long Island’s UBS Arena to pick up the artist of the year award at the MTV VMAs (along with three other trophies from her show-leading 12 nods) before performing at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden later that night.

Oh, and did we mention her brand-new song? On Sept. 3, Gaga dropped “The Dead Dance” and a Tim Burton-directed music video (just in time for Halloween!) ahead of her season 2 cameo on Netflix’s Wednesday as ghostly Nevermore professor Rosaline Rotwood. Less than a week later, she live-debuted the song – one of three new tracks on a Mayhem reissue — during a satellite performance on the VMAs.

To wrap the year up in a bow, on Dec. 9, “Die With a Smile” was announced as the 2025 year-end No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 – Gaga’s first time topping the year-end Hot 100, after just missing the mark with in 2009 with the No. 2-ranking “Poker Face.” And 2026 is looking pretty bright too, as Gaga heads into this weekend’s Grammy Awards with seven nominations, including three in the Big Four categories: album of the year for Mayhem and record and song of the year for “Abracadabra.” It was also revealed in October that she’ll have a role in May’s sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, though it’s unclear whether she’ll be playing herself or a character.

What is clear: As Lady Gaga enters her third decade of pop stardom, her powers only seem to be growing. As she said back in March when she accepted the Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, “Even though the world might consider a woman in her late 30s old for a pop star — which is insane — I promise that I’m just getting warmed up.” After wrapping one of her most potent years yet, we’re sure Gaga’s next magic trick is just around the corner.

Listen to our Lady Gaga Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 podcast discussion here, check back for our No. 2 artist on Thursday, and then it’s time for the announcement of our No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of 2025 on Friday, Jan. 30!

Harry Styles will perform at the 2026 BRIT Awards, marking his first live performance in almost three years.

The former One Direction member will appear at the show held at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena on Feb. 28. Styles is a minority partner in the venue operated by the Oak View Group.

Styles is the second artist announced to perform live at the ceremony, following Olivia Dean. He last performed at the BRIT Awards back in 2023, during which he collected four awards, including album of the year for Harry’s House. His final performance on global Love On Tour run took place in Bologna, Italy, in July 2023.

It’s the latest move to be announced as he marks his musical comeback. The week following The BRITs, Styles will release his fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, due March 6; he released his first single, “Aperture” from the LP, on Jan. 22, and teased that the album was “meant to be listened to loud.” 

He also shared news of his Together Together global residency, which kicks off on May 17 in Amsterdam. Styles will perform in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, São Paolo, New York and Melbourne, before the tour wraps in Sydney on Dec. 13. On Sunday (Feb. 1), Styles will present an award at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Styles also shared news on Wednesday (Jan. 28) of two additional nights at London’s Wembley Stadium to take his run of shows to a total of 12. The move breaks a record previously held by Coldplay for most shows in a calendar year; the British group achieved a 10 show stand back in 2024 for the band’s Music of the Spheres jaunt. He also topples the record set by Taylor Swift for shows by a solo artist, with the 14-time Grammy winner performing eight shows at Wembley on her Eras Tour in 2024.

The nominations for the BRIT Awards were announced Jan. 21, with Olivia Dean and Lola Young both leading the pack with five nominations each, with Sam Fender placed on four. Further performers will be announced for the ceremony, which is taking place outside of London for the first time in its history.

Teddy Swims has joined the party. The Grammy-nominated “Lose Control” singer has been added as the headliner for the Super Bowl LX Tailgate Concert. The NFL announced on Wednesday (Jan. 28) that the pregame party presented by sponsor NetApp will be livestreamed on Peacock at 3:50 p.m. ET on game day (Feb. 8).

The show will take place in the NFL’s expansive pre-game Tailgate Party zone just outside of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., where hours later the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will face off in the big game. In addition to streaming on Peacock, the show will air on 120 iHeart stations across the country and on the iHeartRadio app.

“The Super Bowl is one of those events I grew up watching with my dad and brothers and have always dreamed of being at and performing!” Swims said in a statement. “Coming from a football family — I played and watched my whole life — the Super Bowl was a favorite past time for me and my family to get around and hang together. It’s an honor to be a part of it and kick off the game!”   

Bay Area native indie rapper LaRussell will open for Swims at the show as well as serving as the in-stadium house band on game day. “Music has taken me places I never imagined, and Super Bowl is definitely one of them,” LaRussell said. “Being part of Super Bowl week in my hometown means the world to me.” 

Past Super Bowl Tailgate shows have including headliners Miley Cyrus, the Chainsmokers, Black Keys, Jason DeRulo, Gwen Stefani and Post Malone.

The Tailgate concert will precede the Super Bowl LX Opening Ceremony featuring Green Day. In addition to Bad Bunny’s eagerly anticipated halftime show, Charlie Puth will perform the National Anthem before the game, while Brandi Carlile has been tapped to sing “America the Beautiful” and Coco Jones will perform the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Christmas comes to the December 2025 Top Gabb Music Songs chart, but the No. 1 song remains the same: Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which rules for the second month in a row.

Billboard has partnered with Gabb Wireless, a phone company for kids and teens, to present a monthly chart tracking on-demand streams via its Gabb Music platform. Gabb Music offers a vast catalog of songs, all of which are selected by the Gabb team to include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.

Warren’s “Ordinary” ascended to No. 1 on the November 2025 survey after initially debuting on the April 2025 list. A 10-week leader on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 (and Gabb’s most played song of the year), the track began December at No. 3 before being pushed down the tally by holiday music; it returned to the Jan. 10 ranking at No. 3.

Speaking of holiday music, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” ranks at No. 2 on Top Gabb Music Songs, a new best for the song, eclipsing its No. 7 re-entry on the November 2025 survey. Carey’s holiday standard became the longest-leading No. 1 in Hot 100 history via its four-week reign between Dec. 13, 2025, and Jan. 3, 2026, giving it 22 frames total atop the tally.

This year, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was joined on Top Gabb Music Songs by Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” which debuted at No. 20 on the December 2025 chart.

The tally’s top four is KPop Demon Hunters-less for the first time since June 2025, as the Netflix film’s highest ranking song, HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” slips to No. 5. KATSEYE’s “Gnarly” rises five positions to a new peak of No. 3, followed by NF’s “Fear” at a new best of No. 4.

A flurry of debuts is paced by Taylor Swift’s “Opalite,” which bows at No. 6 in the first full month of release for Swift’s November 2025 album The Fate of Ophelia. The LP’s “Elizabeth Taylor” also represents Swift on the ranking, starting at No. 21.

See the full top 25 below.

Top Gabb Music Songs

DROPS: “Your Idol,” Saja Boys; “Soda Pop,” Saja Boys; “Takedown,” HUNTR/X; “Dusty Bibles,” Josiah Queen; “Up!,” Forrest Frank & Connor Price; “Washed Up,” NF.

On a sunny morning in October, Universal Music Publishing Group chairman/CEO Jody Gerson gathered her lieutenants around a table in her Santa Monica, Calif., office, Zooming in her overseas executives on a big screen, and proudly ­introduced what she described as evidence to inform the ­ongoing industry discussion on “whether AI will replace human artistry.”

“I’m going to show you why it will not,” Gerson said, clad in a black leather jacket and her signature rose-tinted aviator glasses, cueing the dazzlingly original video for the operatic track “Berghain” that had just been released by Rosalía, whom Gerson signed in 2019 and has worked with closely ever since. “The reaction that this video’s getting just gives me hope that real artists will prevail.”

Throughout the rest of the meeting, as each team member gave their updates, Gerson interjected frequently to offer support, asking if there was “anything else we could do to help” a certain songwriter and acknowledging one leader for working through his entire vacation to ensure that a critical deal struck the right “balance of what’s good for songwriters and what’s good for the company on a global basis.”

“I want to commend you for fighting the fight and making sure songwriters are paid fairly. We should all be comforted knowing we have this dream team fighting for value,” Gerson gushed.

It’s been a decade since Gerson took the helm of the publishing business at the world’s biggest record company. Since then, she’s reigned not just as the most powerful woman in the music industry but as one of the most influential executives in entertainment, approximately tripling her company’s publishing revenue and championing songwriters and the value of music at every opportunity — and waking up before dawn each morning to feed her three dogs and practice Pilates before arriving at the office “excited, hoping that I’m going to hear something that I love and that I can contribute in some way to someone’s life. I still have the responsibility of that.”

In the process, Gerson has showed the business how to be a leader at a global music giant with grace, integrity, selflessness and the utmost respect for her songwriters as well as her staff, while still always speaking her mind and using her role as “a platform,” and building strategic bridges with influential leaders beyond the music industry who can affect music’s value.

“No matter whether you’re in retail or film or artificial intelligence, everybody wants a connection to music,” says Gerson, who was appointed to Gap’s board of directors last year. For Billboard‘s Power 100 Executive of the Decade spanning 2015 to 2025 — a co-founder of She Is the Music and board member for mental health organization Project Healthy Minds and Ancestry.com — it was only the latest example of her growing cross-cultural influence and evolution as a leader. “I might as well be that connection,” Gerson says, “and then use those connections to serve my company, my writers and my employees.”

You started this job 10 years ago — what was your vision for the company at the time?

I took this job because the door shut at my other job. [Gerson previously was co-president at what is now Sony Music Publishing under former chairman/CEO Martin Bandier, who retired in 2019.] It’d be easy to rewrite history and say, “Oh, I went for it,” but that’s just not an authentic way to tell this story. The way to tell the story is that I realized I wanted something that I didn’t get at Sony. I very quickly pivoted — if I’m not going to get it at Sony, let me see what’s available.

But I didn’t go to [Universal Music Group chairman/CEO] Lucian [Grainge] with the idea that he would offer me the chairman role of this global company. And I remember accepting it and being excited about it, but being really insecure about it. How do I run a company? I still had kids at home. And I still had bought into this whole thing that I had for my entire career: How does a woman do it? Trying to have babies, raising children, trying to maintain a healthy balance that men aren’t asked to do in the same way, or maybe they don’t put the pressure on themselves in the same way. Not having any role model who actually did it. I knew I always felt that I was as competent, if not more competent, than any other person who had gotten jobs like this, but for whatever reason, insecurity had held me back from that.

So I took the job thinking, “How am I going to do it?” Ten years later, I’m so deeply proud that I’ve taken this job as me and that I lead authentically as me. I run a company with tremendous integrity. I bet on artists, I bet on people, and I set people — artists, our employees, our leadership — up for success. And I’m so proud that I’ve overcome those insecurities.

Was there a turning point at which you overcame them?

I think there are turning points. I was conditioned to be a good girl, do good work and [to think that] you’re going to get the pat on the shoulder saying “you’re up,” and it doesn’t work that way. I got to the point where I determined my success. It wasn’t about making someone else proud of me. Yeah, of course I want to do a great job — but it’s more about doing a great job for me and for the people who work with me and not letting them down.

What are the hallmarks of your management style?

No. 1, it’s about hiring great people. When I say I took this job bringing some of my insecurity, thinking, “Oh, my God, how am I going to know about royalties in other countries or how to make these digital deals or how to think about technology and music’s role in technology in terms of value?” Well, what I did was surround myself with people with skill sets that I don’t have.

In terms of management style, it’s making sure that people feel respected, that they treat each other well. Mark [Cimino, UMPG’s COO] likes to say we have a “no a–hole” rule, and I think it’s a rule that we follow.

I’m also very adaptable. We’re at a time where innovation is happening so quickly. So how do we adapt to innovation? There may have been a time in my life where it was like, “Oh, no. I’m scared of that new technology. It’s going to ruin the business.” Now I go, “OK, how’s it going to enhance the business? How’s it going to enhance it, and what do we need to do to adapt?”

Ten years later, I come from a position of strength and a position where I want others to succeed. I think having power gives you the ability to empower others. That’s my style. I honestly just really care about people. And I think it comes through. I hope it comes through.

How do you talk to your songwriters about AI?

First and foremost, we always have to protect a songwriter, a song. We have to protect that song vigorously. As long as AI enhances the writing process, that’s a good thing. AI capability will make it easier for us to find copyright infringements, to claim, even to collect royalties. It will be fantastic in terms of search. It’ll make it so easy for music users to find the song that works for their film, their television show.

But we have to get training right. We have to get output right. We have to get the allocations right between the master and publishing. We have to be adaptable, but at the very core, as long as AI helps and supports human beings, human art, I think we’re going to be OK.

What scares me is the AI race. We have to make sure that it doesn’t eat our [intellectual property] — any of us — because if we allow it to, the libraries that film studios have, the libraries that music companies have, they’ll be meaningless. So we have to really protect human art while we’re advancing technology.

Practically, what does that look like?

This is the part I didn’t know would be in my job — fighting for value. It seemed obvious to me that music and songs have value, but it’s not so easy. Does it come naturally to these tech companies? Does it come naturally to technology and innovation? It’s our job to make sure.

The other thing I’ve thought about is that there are tremendous AI opportunities for artists. But what we can’t forget is that songwriters are not always the artists. So the artist gets to use their music and the success of their music to get a brand deal, a touring deal, a sponsorship. But songwriters only make money when their songs are used and when their songs are heard.

Sometimes the artists and the songwriter are the same, but sometimes they’re not. The people who wrote the underlying song — the only time they get paid is from that song. They don’t get the benefit of brand deals, sponsorships, any of that. I think that’s really important to distinguish when we’re talking about value.

What do you still want to accomplish in this role?

The big thing for me is that there be more women in my position. Until women get the message that community and sisterhood is going to take us where we need to go, nothing will change. We’ve hosted these dinner parties for She Is the Music — I did one at my house. We decided to do an event called Sharing the Spotlight. The idea was you invite 50 women with experience who should be acknowledged, and the ask is that they invite a rising star. Part of these dinner parties has to be an opportunity for someone to say, “This is what I need,” and for someone else to say, “I got you.” “I’m applying for that job. Can you put in a call for me?” “Yes, I got you.” “I want to meet so-and-so. Can you make the introduction?” “Yes, I got you.” That’s how I believe things will change.

There’s a thirst for community. We, as women, came to the corporate world late. Men have been in it so much longer. Men have played on sports teams way longer than we have. Many of us didn’t have moms who worked. I didn’t have a mom who worked until very much later in her life. So we didn’t have role models.

This idea that together we’re better — if I accomplished that message, that will be part of my legacy, but I want to share that legacy with others.

How have the power dynamics of the music business changed since you stepped into this role?

We’re like the hot business now. Everybody else’s business is starting to look just like my business. When I came into the music business, publishing was like, “Huh, what is it?” And now it’s a big business people are paying attention to. When private equity looks at it, they see the value in it. Wall Street sees the value in it. People understand what it is as an asset class. I think that’s a good thing. We as publishers have a seat at the table.

Artists have a lot more power than they ever did. I used to sign an artist who was just talented and we could do the rest. Now the artist has all of the power and such a heavy lift. There are so many things we ask of them. You have to show up at a Billboard event, you have to make a special version for Spotify, you have to do Zane Lowe’s show, you have to do however many TikTok videos, you have to communicate directly with your fans. All of that means that they have great power.

The job has really turned into a supportive role of, “OK, artist, what’s the vision? We are going to support your vision. We’re going to protect you from making mistakes, but we’re going to believe in you. And I’m going to help you get there.”

What’s the part of your job you feel most challenged or frustrated by?

I still have to explain to people that music has value. How could people not know that? Every day, as we negotiate these deals, we have to defend value. Songwriters deserve to make a living. That’s the hard part. Whether you’re in film and in order to get greenlit you cut the music budget, or you’re a digital platform that goes, “Oh, my margins are bad because of what I have to pay for music,” music still means something and music is still the big thing that drives culture.

That’s frustrating to me, that I still am fighting that fight. But I will say that I think we’ve educated a lot of platforms, a lot of brands, a lot of music users that music has value. So I feel good about that.

This story appears in the Jan. 24, 2026, issue of Billboard.